Bogormen

Title: The Paradise Problem
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 3/5
# pages: ~12hrs
Date read: November 2024

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.


I mostly liked it. I loved the setting. I liked Reagan and the crazy sister-in-law (Beatrice? I listened to the audiobook version, and can't remember her name, other than that it started with B). I appreciated that the third act breakup was decently handled (even if I hated the fact that they decided to include it at all - the external conflict would have been more than enough to add suspense to the book. Chick-lit authors, this is a plea to JUST STOP ADDING THAT ALREADY!!! *Cough* Anyways ... I digress ...).

However - and this is a rather big deal - I did not buy the romance at all. Sure, there was lust - but love? No, I just didn't see it. Liam and Anna acted like friends who decided to have sex - not as two people falling in love with each other.

The lack of communication between Liam and his siblings frustrated me. I kinda get Alex as they were at odds, but Jack? Charlie? It seemed pointless.

And finally, it annoyed me that Ray had no redeeming features. He was just cartoonishly evil.

Unfortunately not Christina Lauren's best work. I still enjoyed reading it - but I didn't love it, the way had expected to.

Title: Smile
Author: Raina Telgemeier
Genre: Graphic memoir, YA
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 224
Date read: November, 2024

Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.


Excellent story telling and great illustrations. I raced through it, and really enjoyed Raina's way of expressing herself. Parts of it were very uncomfortable to read (I have dentist-phobia, so those parts made me cringe), and other parts rang so true to me, that it felt like Raina was telling my story. Her description of finding a true group of friends to hang out with so closely mirrored my own experience in high school that I almost teared up.

Lovely graphic memoir, and I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Title: Twelve Days of Christmas
Author: Trisha Ashley
Genre: Christmas, chick-lit
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 402
Date read: December 2015, December 2020, November 2024

Christmas has always been a sad time for young widow Holly Brown, so when she's asked to look after a remote house on the Lancashire moors, the opportunity to hide herself away is irresistible -- the perfect excuse to forget about the festivities.

Sculptor, Jude Martland, is determined that this year there will be no Christmas after his brother runs off with his fiancee and he is keen to avoid the family home. However, he will have to return by the twelfth night of the festivities, when the hamlet of Little Mumming hold their historic festivities and all of his family are required to attend.

Meanwhile, Holly is finding that if she wants to avoid Christmas, she has come to the wrong place. When Jude unexpectedly returns on Christmas Eve he is far from delighted to discover that Holly seems to be holding the very family party he had hoped to avoid.

Suddenly, the blizzards come out of nowhere and the whole village is snowed in. With no escape, Holly and Jude get much more than they bargained for -- it looks like the twelve days of Christmas are going to be very interesting indeed!


I'm always on the lookout for cozy Christmas reads, but haven't had too much luck so far, so when I had this book recommended to me by two different people only a couple of days apart, I figured I had to try it. I almost put it down again within the first few chapters as I didn't care much for the writing style, but I trusted the people who'd recommended it to me, so stuck with it, and am really glad I did, as it turned out to be the perfect Christmasy read :) I don't know if the writing style changed, or if I just got more used to it, because I stopped paying much attention to it, and just dived into the the story itself.

It had everything I'd like in a Christmas story - lots of details about Christmas preparations, engaging characters, a child to experience Christmas through, and of course a suitable romance to tie it all up in a nice little bow :)

It was sweet without being sugary and had me wanting to celebrate Christmas together with Holly, Jess and all the others... although I guess I could do without Coco and Guy!

Reread 2020: Just as good as on my first read-though. This is going to be a firm stable of my Christmas reading I think. But I got so HUNGRY!!! There many descriptions of Holly making delicious-sounding food.

On this readthrough I didn't mind the writing style at all. It reads more like Holly's diary than anything else, which really worked for me this time around, so I have no idea what my issue was with it the first time.

Reread 2024: I'd forgotten how sudden the ending was! From 0 to proposal in no time! Ah well - I still love it, so I'm going to leave it at 5 stars, even if the ending is kinda silly.

Title: Little Town on the Prairie Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder Genre: Classics Rating: 4.5/5 # pages: 223 Date read: July 2007, January 2010, August 2012, January 2018, 2024

The long winter is finally over, and with spring comes a new job for Laura, town parties, and more time to spend with Almanzo Wilder. Laura also tries to help Pa and Ma save money for Mary to go to college.


This is one of my favourite LIW books. I'm fascinated by the descriptions of life in town. Two things that struck me in particular were a) how modestly they lived and b) how quickly they had to grow up. Just think of Laura, going off to teach at age 15. I was no where near mature enough for that at that age. And they all seemed so selfless too - always passing on things to each other, because they didn't need them themselves, and thought the other person would like them more.

Title: Farmer Boy Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder Genre: Classics Rating: 4.5/5 # pages: 236, Audiobook ~7hrs Date read: July 2007, January 2010, August 2012, January 2018, November 2024

The Story of a boy named Almanzo Wilder...While Laura Ingalls grows up on the western prairie, a boy named Almanzo Wilder is living on a farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn until supper most days -- no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.


It took me quite awhile to read this one the first time around, because I didn't originally think that a book not about Laura could possibly be as good. I don't know why I thought that, seeing as it was the same person writing them, and fortunately my mum talked me into reading it. Now, it's one of my favourite of the series. It has a lot more explaining how they do this or that, but that doesn't bother me at all, since lots of this is completely new to me. I also like the fact that this book spans over almost exactly one year, so you get to see how life on a farm was back in those days.

Title: On the Banks of Plum Creek Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder Genre: Classics Rating: 4.5/5 # pages: 235, Audiobook ~7hrs Date read: July 2007, March 2011, August 2012, January 2018, November 2024

Laura and her family find a new home in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where the nearby creek and swimming hole lure Laura with dangerous, yet thrilling adventures. Too soon, their life is threatened when prairie fires and other strange events jeopardize their crops.


I remember being totally scared by the grasshoppers after reading this book. I'd read about the plague of the locusts in the Bible, but it never really *clicked* exactly what it meant until after reading this. I can't remember if I noticed this before, but on this readthrough it constantly strikes me how simple a life the Ingalls lived. I know it's (mostly) written with rosy-coloured glasses but I really think there were a lot of advantages to it - more time to play (no TV or computer), more time to spend with your family (again, no TV or computer to compete with)... on the other hand I would miss having more than 3 books at my disposal ;-)